WGCDR (later GPCAPT) John Lerew, CO 24SQN, sent six Wirraway trainers up from Rabaul on 20 Jan 1942, against a force of 109 Japanese aircraft including 47 Zero fighters. In the words of PVT Alf Price "The Wirraways performed a feat for which, search history as you will, you will find no parallel. (Five) Wirraways - frail, obsolete, cumbersome, but manned by men of a new order of heroes - took off in the teeth of the screaming devils which tore and roared and plundered about them. It was pitiful - it was magnificent. The pilots did not have a chance. They must have known when they went up what would happen to them. They went out in a blaze of glory in a death that comes to few men." (Actually, a number of them survived). No citations were awarded for this battle because no Japanese aircraft were shot down so "in the circumstances, it is not possible to submit citations for individual awards."
I would argue that the actions of the pilot of the last surviving Hurricance in the Siege of Tobruk were inspirational and heroic in the same vein.
On 21 Jan 1942, with the invasion of Rabaul imminent, John Lerew evacuated his two remaining Wirraways to Port Moresby and intended to use his other serviceable aircraft, a Hudson bomber, to evacuate wounded to Port Moresby. Lerew was, however, issued the entirely inappropriate order in the face of overwhelming odds "Rabaul not yet fallen. Assist Army in keeping aerodrome open. Maintain communcations as long as possible." This order prompted Lerew to send the response "Nos morituri te salutamus." HQ eventually figured out that it wasn't a coded message but the traditional salute of Roman gladiators, translated, "We who are about to die salute you." HQ then tried to relieve Lerew of his command, but he was not about to return to Moresby, as ordered, in the one remaining Hudson. He stayed in Rabaul to face his fate with the rest of the Lark Force while the Hudson evacuated wounded as planned.
This little publicised chapter of Australian history is about the deliberate sacrifice of Lark Force, the Rabaul garrison, by the Australian Government as "Hostages to Fortune" to the Japanese invasion of Rabaul for no strategic purpose. Lark Force comprised the entire 2/22nd Battalion, 100 men of the NGVR, around 100 men of the 17th Antitank gun troop, a RAAF contingent (primarily 24SQN) of 51 men and 22 personnel of the 2/10 Field Ambulance.
Last edited by Barry Bernoulli; 24th Mar 2008 at 23:26.